Hi! I am an editor in the US who is interested in contributing to articles relating to systemic inequalities and injustices. I am interested in civil rights advocacy and social justice movements. I am majoring in Social Policy Analysis and minoring in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities.
I think I will work on the lead at the end so that I can appropriately match the content and organization of the article. I will define it first, and then briefly discuss the different topics transport divide refers to.
History
Structural inequality and short-sighted urban planning have contributed to the current transport divide. Housing policy also plays an important role in transport disadvantage. I also want to cover the rise of cars and highways and how that has changed the transportation landscape.
Public transportation
Public transportation varies widely by country, and within countries, there is also striking divides. The US, for example, has a poor public transportation system compared to many European countries. Dense cities, such as New York or D.C., have more accessible public transportation, but some cities, such as Houston, are built around cars and highways and there is a lack of accessible and efficient public transportation. Those without cars in these cities are at a disadvantage in finding and commuting to jobs. Current policy favors those in suburbs with cars rather than poorer, urban populations.
Disability
In this section, I would discuss how those with disabilities do not have equitable access to public transportation across the world. Especially in low-income countries, it can be extremely difficult for those with disabilities to access transportation for educational, health, employment, or social purposes.
Private transportation
Owning cars has become more widespread and many countries’ infrastructure, especially the US, center around car ownership. There are financial barriers to owning and maintaining a car, as well as global environmental consequences. Those without access to their own car lack reliable transportation and access. The general reliance on cars in a society can lead to public transportation being neglected, with a decrease in services or an increase in fares.
Global mobility divide
Citizens of wealthier countries have more mobility rights than citizens of poorer countries. This means it is easier to travel or immigrate across the world and find better opportunities. One source below discusses the “Birthright Lottery,” which refers to how one’s ability to move throughout the world is determined by one’s country of birth.
Effects
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, another dimension of the transport divide is health risk. Those who can travel in private cars are at less risk for contracting COVID-19, compared to those who only have access to public transportation. Transport disadvantage can also hurt wellbeing by limiting access to resources and social services. Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to have transport disadvantages. One effect of transport disadvantage is increased exposure to traffic, which has risks through air pollution and car crashes.
Potential solutions
Some countries have public aid programs that subsidize cars for poor households. However, there is criticism over these programs because of environmental concerns as well concerns about defunding public transportation. Other scholars proposed technological solutions, such as a demand responsive virtual transport market in rural communities. Some urban planners advocate for denser, mixed-use city neighborhoods that are more people friendly with more public transportation and less traffic.
I am interested in the transport divide article because transportation significantly affects equitable access to education, jobs, housing, and other opportunities. This article is currently listed as a stub article and briefly describes the areas “transport divide” can cover, from disability issues to socioeconomic issues to financial burdens that prevent equitable access to transportation. I believe I could add a section devoted to each of these topics. Here are some preliminary sources:
Banister, D. J. 1980. “TRANSPORT MOBILITY AND DEPRIVATION IN INTER-URBAN AREAS.” https://trid.trb.org/view/156225.
“Closing the Transportation Divide: Linking TANF and Transportation on JSTOR.” n.d. Accessed February 9, 2021. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.rice.edu/stable/41675264?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Currie, Grahama, Tony Richardson, Paul Smyth, Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Julian Hine, Karen Lucas, Janet Stanley, Jenny Morris, Ray Kinnear, and John Stanley. 2010. “Investigating Links between Transport Disadvantage, Social Exclusion and Well-Being in Melbourne – Updated Results.” Research in Transportation Economics, Reforming Public Transport throughout the World, 29 (1): 287–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2010.07.036.
Delbosc, Alexa, and Graham Currie. 2011. “The Spatial Context of Transport Disadvantage, Social Exclusion and Well-Being.” Journal of Transport Geography, Special section on Alternative Travel futures, 19 (6): 1130–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2011.04.005.
Dodson, Jago, Nick Buchanan, Brendan Gleeson, and Neil Sipe. 2006. “Investigating the Social Dimensions of Transport Disadvantage—I. Towards New Concepts and Methods.” Urban Policy and Research 24 (4): 433–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/08111140601035317.
Fol, Sylvie, Gabriel Dupuy, and Olivier Coutard. 2007. “Transport Policy and the Car Divide in the UK, the US and France: Beyond the Environmental Debate.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31 (4): 802–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2007.00755.x.
Groth, Sören. 2019. “Multimodal Divide: Reproduction of Transport Poverty in Smart Mobility Trends.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 125 (July): 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.04.018.
“Modelling the Social and Psychological Impacts of Transport Disadvantage | SpringerLink.” n.d. Accessed February 9, 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11116-010-9280-2.
Power, Anne. 2012. “Social Inequality, Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods and Transport Deprivation: An Assessment of the Historical Influence of Housing Policies.” Journal of Transport Geography, Social Impacts and Equity Issues in Transport, 21 (March): 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.016.
Rachele, Jerome N., Vincent Learnihan, Hannah M. Badland, Suzanne Mavoa, Gavin Turrell, and Billie Giles-Corti. 2017. “Neighbourhood Socioeconomic and Transport Disadvantage: The Potential to Reduce Social Inequities in Health through Transport.” Journal of Transport & Health 7 (December): 256–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.09.002.
Schwanen, Tim, Karen Lucas, Nihan Akyelken, Diego Cisternas Solsona, Juan-Antonio Carrasco, and Tijs Neutens. 2015. “Rethinking the Links between Social Exclusion and Transport Disadvantage through the Lens of Social Capital.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 74 (April): 123–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2015.02.012.
Velaga, Nagendra R., Mark Beecroft, John D. Nelson, David Corsar, and Peter Edwards. 2012. “Transport Poverty Meets the Digital Divide: Accessibility and Connectivity in Rural Communities.” Journal of Transport Geography, Social Impacts and Equity Issues in Transport, 21 (March): 102–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2011.12.005.
I am interested in the fenceline community article because of the readings in PJHC 371 last semester that dealt with health inequalities and environmental racism. The current fenceline community article is a stub article with room for significant additions and improvement. I could possibly add a historical section, expand on the effects, and expand upon environmental racism. I could also add more examples of current fenceline communities. Here are some preliminary sources:
“9. Oil Transnational Corporations.Pdf.” n.d. Accessed February 8, 2021. https://www.japss.org/upload/9.%20Oil%20transnational%20corporations.pdf.
Anderson, Elsa C., and Emily S. Minor. 2020. “Management Effects on Plant Community and Functional Assemblages in Chicago’s Vacant Lots.” Applied Vegetation Science 23 (2): 266–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12480.
Brown, Margot Taliaferro. 2006. “Identifying Health and Environmental Concerns in a Fence-Line Community.” Dr.sci., United States -- Louisiana: Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. http://search.proquest.com/docview/996245805/abstract/F6DE3CA277E64DA8PQ/1.
Browne, Alison Leigh, Daniela Stehlik, and Amma Buckley. 2011. “Social Licences to Operate: For Better Not for Worse; for Richer Not for Poorer? The Impacts of Unplanned Mining Closure for ‘Fence Line’ Residential Communities.” Local Environment 16 (7): 707–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2011.592183.
Calvano, Lisa. 2008. “Multinational Corporations and Local Communities: A Critical Analysis of Conflict.” Journal of Business Ethics 82 (4): 793–805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9593-z.
“Forty Years on the Fenceline: Community, Memory, and Chronic Contamination: Environmental Sociology: Vol 4, No 2.” n.d. Accessed February 8, 2021. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.rice.edu/doi/abs/10.1080/23251042.2017.1414660.
Gomez, Antoinette M., Fatemeh Shafiei, and Glenn S. Johnson. 2011. “Black Women’s Involvement in the Environmental Justice Movement: An Analysis of Three Communities in Atlanta, Georgia.” Race, Gender & Class 18 (1/2): 189–214.
Johnston, Jill, and Lara Cushing. 2020. “Chemical Exposures, Health, and Environmental Justice in Communities Living on the Fenceline of Industry.” Current Environmental Health Reports 7 (1): 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-020-00263-8.
Lerner, Steve. 2012. Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the United States. MIT Press.
Radavoi, Ciprian N. 2015. “Fenceline Communities and Environmentally Damaging Projects: An Asymptotically Evolving Right to Veto.” Tulane Environmental Law Journal 29 (1): 1–30.
Stewart, Haeden, Kendra Jungkind, and Robert Losey. 2020. “Life on the Fence Line. Early 20th-Century Life in Ross Acreage.” Archaeological Dialogues 27 (June): 57–77. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203820000094.
Todd, S.W., and M.T. Hoffman. 1999. “A Fence-Line Contrast Reveals Effects of Heavy Grazing on Plant Diversity and Community Composition in Namaqualand, South Africa.” Plant Ecology 142 (1): 169–78. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009810008982.
I was interested in this article because I believe housing is a basic necessity, and discrimination in housing has been linked to other societal effects, such as educational and health and occupational disparities. I think there is a growing amount of research on how the US government, beyond individuals, has been directly responsible for discrimination that is relevant to this article. My sandbox (User:S.shedore/sandbox) has my key proposal elements with planned changes and sources.
